Posing for a group shot after Wednesdfay's announcement of the ARA Fellows program were (from left) UAPB chancellor Laurence Alexander, ARA Fellow Trace Peterson, ARA Fellow Laura James, UAMS chancellor Dan Rahn, ARA Fellow Alexandru Biris, UALR chancellor Joel Anderson, ARA Fellow Alan Mantooth, Gov. Mike Beebe, UA chancellor David Gearhart, ARA Fellow Argelia Lorence and ASU chancellor Tim Hudson.
The Arkansas Research Alliance on Wednesday announced its inaugural class of ARA Fellows.
The ARA Fellows program was created to recognize and reward distinguished research talent at the state’s five research universities, and is a complement to the ARA Scholars program, which recruits new research talent to the state.
The announcement was made Wednesday from the governor’s conference room in the state Capitol. The first ARA Fellows, with credentials and professional accomplishments courtesy of ARA, are:
- Alexandru Biris, Ph.D., UALR, director and chief scientist, Center for Integrative Nanotechnology Sciences (CINS): Explores the science of nanostructures that can be used to alter properties of substances at the atomic level.
- Laura James, M.D., UAMS, director, Translational Research Institute; professor, Department of Pediatrics; section chief, Clinical Pharmacology & Toxicology, Arkansas Children’s Hospital: Researches the performance of drug dosing in children in order to gather critically needed information to guide the dosing of a number of pediatric therapeutics.
- Argelia Lorence, Ph.D., ASU, Co-lead Plant Imaging Consortium (PIC): Leads research for the potential development of crop plants with enhanced nutritional content, better growth, and improved tolerance to multiple environmental stresses.
- Alan Mantooth, Ph.D., P.E., FIEEE, UA; executive director, National Center for Reliable Electric Power Transmission; executive director, NSF Center for Grid-connected Advanced Power Electronic Systems; 21st Century Endowed Chair, Mixed-signal IC Design and CAD: Continues to build upon his internationally recognized electronics research program. The team’s designs have flown on the International Space Station. Latest achievements include developing an electronic charger for Toyota’s new plug-in electric vehicles. (Mantooth also is a former Razorback football player under Lou Holtz.)
- Trace Peterson, Ph.D., D.V.M., UAPB; assistant professor, Regulatory Science Center of Excellence: Examines transgenic humanized zebrafish used to study human cancers and kidney diseases. Also researching drug delivery systems and patentable vaccine technology for previously non-preventable food fish diseases, which will enhance worldwide food security.
The new program was conceived and vetted with the guidance of the ARA board of trustees, along with oversight and input from academic leaders from the five research universities in Arkansas, according to ARA president and CEO Jerry Adams.
“ARA is proud of the new ARA Fellows program because it underscores our mission to stimulate economic opportunities through university innovation and collaboration,” he said. “By identifying and investing in researchers currently working in the state, we are maximizing opportunities for commercialization and economic impact.”
Adams said ARA intends to name new Fellows each year.
ARA is a nonprofit governed by a board of trustees made of the chancellors from Arkansas’ five research universities and CEOs from across the state. It was launched in 2007 from a strategic plan developed by Accelerate Arkansas, approved that year by the Arkansas legislature, and is funded through the Arkansas Science & Technology Authority.
ARA Fellows were nominated by the chancellors of the five research universities and each will receive a $75,000 state grant paid out over three years to develop their research.
Jeff Gardner, CEO of Windstream Holdings Inc. of Little Rock and chairman of the ARA board, said the fellows are proven research leaders who are highly regarded at their respective universities.
“They share the same vision as the ARA Scholars: to impact Arkansas through innovative research with commercial applications,” he said in a press release.
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